Amid gardeners’ fete, developer reinforces his fence

Green thumbs young and old at The Children’s Magical Garden, at Norfolk and Stanton Sts., on Tuesday celebrated their recent victory that saw the city, on June 26, transfer two of the garden’s lots to the Parks Department. These two parts of the garden will now be preserved as permanent green space. Meanwhile, the third lot, owned by Serge Hoyda, remains in the developer’s possession. However, the gardeners are pushing the city to negotiate a “land swap” with him, by giving him a comparable property at another location. Hoyda, who built a chain-link fence around his lot in May, chose to reinforce it with plywood on the very day of the party. Gardeners marched in protest, above left, accompanied by three musicians, and sang chants, “Leave the garden whole/It’s good for the soul” and “Take down the fence/Garden permanence!” The party went on as scheduled. Also, kids from the Bronx came down to play in the garden Tuesday, below left, as part of the Summer Kids program. Souvlaki GR restaurant parked their truck in front of the garden and provided the kids and garden group with free food. Although they didn’t bring in trucks, a number of other local restaurants and shops also provided free food, including SOY, Tiny’s Giant Sandwich Shop and the Fourth St. Food C0-0p. A private security car, below right, is now a daily presence next to the fenced-off lot.

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